When Your Potatoes Rot

Not just some measly little creature. I was thinking it had to have some substance to it, considering the SMELL that was permeating through our house.

I was lighting candles, opening up the windows, yet every time I spun our little lazy susan, it just got worse and worse. The onions were fine. What in the world died back there?

Then finally one day, I lifted up the bag of potatoes.

The thought of heaving crossed my mind. Wait, no thought needed. I started to breathe heavily through my mouth to prevent myself from having to use any part of my nose. As I lifted the bag, it was DRIPPING into the puddle of brown water that was already gathering on the shelf. I need not open the gateway of my nostrils to realize I found the culprit.

Damage done. I threw them into the nearest trash can and then disposed of that bag as well. Full or not full, I didn’t care. Yet now the smell stunk up the entire main floor. Have you seriously ever smelled a bag of rotten potatoes? Hokey toledo, folks!

That day, our house did not have enough windows and my candle sure wasn’t strong enough! It took a few days to get the smell fully out of that area, without me recollecting the damage of that day.

Then it got me thinking. My tongue can be MUCH like that sack of taters.

James 3:5-10 says: The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

Sometimes we have no clue how much our words hurt. Or the lack there of them. Our tongues are incredibly powerful and yet we use them to curse and praise. Think of how easy that is to do! We can say one thing and then turn around, and COMPLETELY contradict the truths we just spoke. If our minds only spoke the words that it thought, even more so, right?

The amount of patience and control it takes to tame the tongue, is quite an ordeal, and a constant battle. At least I make it an ordeal! All I know is that my tongue can wreak like that sack of taters. I’m not just talking about that bad garlic smell from supper. I’m talking about the lack of choosing to think before I speak and my tone of voice. I am not a patient person at times. And my words say it all.

Do you think about what comes out of your mouth? Does your tongue sometimes stink like those rotten potatoes? All I know is that the smell from that vivid day is forever etched in my mind and nose. It sure makes me think twice about the words I say because I sure don’t want anyone else to experience a rotten bag of taters coming from my mouth!

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As a Christ-follower, wife, stay at home mom, blogger, author, and advanced heart failure patient, my desire is to encourage others in those same roles, through honest and real conversation. May you be inspired to embrace YOUR story of God’s grace in your own life, through simple, grace-filled living.

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If you live in West Michigan, check out Making Prime's Meat Market, where you can buy meat from locally raised, grain-fed cows (click the picture for more information)!

Kristin Sterk does an incredible job bringing the reader into her story and the faithfulness of God. Her writing style is so engaging and quick-paced that the book is hard to put down. As you find yourself wrapped up in these stories of struggles, joys, hopes, and challenges, you'll discover that you too are "experiencing more of God."

~ J.A. FISHER

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